Earlier this year, Rockstar Games launched GTA+, a monthly subscription service for Grand Theft Auto Online players that provides rewards, freebies, and in-game bonuses. At the time, it wasn’t clear if this new plan was worth it, as Rockstar planned to change the rewards every month. Having now taken it for a lengthier test drive, it’s clear that while some newer or less established GTA Online players might find the new plan worth it, it’s a skip for most longtime fans.
GTA+, which started in April of this year, costs $US6 ($8) a month and is only available on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. The subscription isn’t required to play GTA Online or access any of its missions and expansions. Instead, GTA+ is more like a monthly batch of in-game bonuses that, in theory, can help players save GTA dollars and rank up more quickly.
Something to keep in mind is that Rockstar changes up the rewards players get every month. The one constant, however, is that your in-game bank account always sees a monthly deposit of $US500,000 ($694,100). To buy that amount of GTA money via in-game microtransactions would cost you $10 USD ($14), while a GTA+ sub only costs $US6 ($8) a month. So, technically speaking, GTA+ is worth it based entirely on that one part. Thanks for reading! Have a good day!
Wait…no, come back. There’s more to this story, which gets more complicated as you dig deeper.
Looking at the last four months of GTA+ in-game rewards, it’s pretty easy to spot a pattern. Every month, Rockstar provides members with different in-game properties, cars, or upgrades. Some of these monthly rewards have included early access to cars before other, non-subscribers have access. But not every month’s haul of content has enjoyed such exclusives. Other rewards have included more common, non-exclusive things — like a military bunker or an office building — which let you participate in different parts of GTA Online’s criminal underworld.
No matter what is offered or given away each month, if you look at how much it all costs in-game and then do the real-world maths, you’ll quickly discover that Rockstar is providing about $US45 ($62) to $55 USD ($76) worth of stuff each month. On paper, this seems like a steal!
That in mind, GTA+ is probably worth it for newer players or folks who don’t have the time to grind away at earning expensive stuff like bunkers or fancy cars. Indeed, some of the in-game bonuses can be very useful for grinding, assuming you take advantage of them each month. (These bonuses — which provide you with increased payouts or exclusive reward multipliers for some missions or events — didn’t factor into my calculations above because they aren’t things you can buy in-game and their value is directly connected to how dedicated you are as a player.)
But most of the content Rockstar is giving subscribers longtime, experienced players will already have. If you already own a bunker, an Agency building, a Mobile Operations Centre, and an auto shop, then the past few months of GTA+ haven’t been very exciting. You also don’t receive any of the past content when signing up. So if you wanted that free bunker, it’s too late, and subscribing now won’t help.
One nice thing is that you don’t lose access to anything you receive from GTA+ once you stop paying for it. With that in mind, it could be useful to watch for months in which Rockstar is giving away something you don’t already have. In that case, it would be cheaper to subscribe for a month, get the stuff you don’t have, then stop paying after that. That could be a handy way to score some in-game businesses and properties on the cheap, though I doubt Rockstar intended for folks to use GTA+ like that.
When Rockstar first announced GTA+ I wasn’t sure how it would play out or who it was for. Having now kicked its tires for a few months, I’m still not sure who GTA+ is for. Sure, new players and less dedicated GTA Online fans would get a lot out of subscribing, but they also seem least likely to fork out $US72 ($100) a year for something like that. On the flip side, longtime enthusiasts who might actually want to spend that much money in GTA Online are the same folks who likely won’t get much from the sub. Again, the in-game bonuses like reward multipliers could be useful for those willing to grind, but paying Rockstar for the pleasure of grinding isn’t a very appealing pitch.
Ultimately, the answer to the question of “Is GTA+ worth it?” is mostly no, unless you love grinding or are just starting out in the game.
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